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Blackhands is a campaign focused on negotiation and revenge, and is heavily based on the board game Mob Ties by Hostage Entertainment. During the course of the campaign, players assume the roles of crime bosses battling for control of Hatol, a Martian city within the League of Martian States.
Hatol is a mid-tier city, an Indianapolis not a Chicago. Hatol is divided into several locations, and players will need to move their mobsters between various locations in the city to collect income and work with other crime families.
Blackhands will be a fairly fast-paced game, with each round lasting roughly a week and each phase only 24 hours.
To join, fill out this form.
Family/Gang Name:
Capo: Name, Location
Hitman: Name, Location
Made Man: Name, Location
Associate: Name, Location
Driver: Name, Location
Each gang will start with a number of favor cards and $25k.
The Streets: The Streets is a general area. Each mobster will generate $25k for the family.
The Prison: Arrested mobsters are placed in Prison. The Prison is the last stop before Triton, an off-planet prison colony, or the morgue, for mobsters who meet their untimely demise in their cell.
The Morgue: Where the dead go.
The Spaceport: The Spaceport is where Brigadors will arrive, and where mobsters can escape.
The Diner: The Diner is a racket that generates some income. The controlling family can forfeit the location’s racket value to bribe cops and receive information about which locations the Special Division are going to target.
The Freezer: This is a racket and, err, physical chop shop. It generates income for the controlling family.
Little Earth: Little Earth is a poor neighborhood and target of protection rackets. Generates income for the controlling family.
Lucina’s: Lucina’s is a brothel that generates income for the controlling family.
Warehouse District: The Warehouse District generates the most racket income.
Heat represents how eager the Special Division is to crackdown on crime. When the total number of characters in Prison or in the Morgue equal the number of characters divided by five, Heat increased by one level and all prisoners are sent to Triton.
The game begins at Level 0. At Level 1, one SD card is drawn a turn. At Level 2, two SD cards are drawn a turn. At Level 3, three SD cards a drawn a turn, and so on.
There are seven types of characters.
Capo: The highest ranking member of a Family and commands 3 Respect. Capos can perform Attacks, Hits, and Whacks.
Hit Man: Skilled in the art of assassination and commands 2 Respect. Can perform Attacks or Hits.
Made Man: The enforcer of the family and commands 2 Respect. Can perform Attacks or Whacks.
Associate: Not yet a full member of the Family, the Associate must make a kill to become a Hit Man or Made Man. Can only use Attack cards. Command 1 Respect.
Driver: Can only use Attack Cards. As an action, this character can move itself and another character in the same location to the Streets, or from the Streets to another location. 1 Respect
Brigadors: Brigadors are mercenaries that can be hired from Earth. They cost $25k to hire can perform Attacks, Hits, and Whacks. Brigadors command 1 Respect and is hired during the Movement Phase. This counts as a Movement.
Foot Soldiers: Foot Soldiers cost $50k to hire. They can only perform Attacks. Command no respect. Foot Soldiers are hired during the Business Phase. After one kill, they can become Associates or Drivers.
Favor Cards come in several types: Attacks, Hits, Whacks, Defense, Specials, and Weapons. Attacks, Hits, and Whacks have levels, representing the power of the card. Even a Level 1 Attack can kill though!
Defense cards are used to defend against attacks, and are attached to specific characters. Specialty, or special for short, cards are cards with unique abilities and restraints.
GAME ROUNDSThe game is divided into rounds, which are sub-divided into phases. Each phase covers a short amount of time, and each round covers seven to ten days. Two phases will be skipped in the first round. The phases are as follow.
1. Election
2. Business
3. Movement
4. Special Division
5. Action
6. Bail and Funeral
7. Heat
If this can’t happen, there is no Don for the round.
The Don will then receive two Favor Cards and must give one of these cards to any crime family whose mobsters share a location with at least one of the Don’s mobsters. If there is no shared location, only one Favor Card is drawn.
If, at any point during the game, the Don’s Mansion is closed down by the Special Division (surrounded by SD with no mobsters therein to defend it), the Election Phase is skipped over for the remainder of the game.
During the Business Phase, families may purchase favor cards. Purchasing a card costs $25k. A family can discard two cards to draw two cards as well.
During the Business Phase, the family that wins the Show of Respect at the Diner can forfeit the income as a bribe to the Cop. You will be shown the next two cards that will be drawn from the Special Division deck.
MOVEMENTFamilies can move ONE of their Mobsters during this phase.
SPECIAL DIVISIONStarting at Heat-1, an SD card or more will be drawn in this phase. This cards will place SD tokens on one or more location on the map. When there are four SD tokens on a location, the location is surrounded and the SD move in to make an arrest.
If this is the case, families with mobsters in the location will conduct a Respect vote to decide which family will take the fall this round. The lowest ranking mobster in the location (determined by Respect) will arrested.
Mobsters can use Weapon Cards during this phase to reduce SD tokens at locations.
When a mobster is arrested, they remain in Prison until bailed out, murdered, or sent to Triton when Heat rises.
If a location is surrounded while there are no mobsters to defend it, the location is closed for the rest of the game.
Defense cards and certain special cards are played at locations with your own mobsters. If a mobster in this location is attacked, the defense card will activate if it would help. You can set limits on when a card will activate.
Any attack that is not successfully defended against will succeed, and the attacked mobster will be killed and moved to the Morgue. Only one Defense card activates at a time. A Defense-2 and Defense-1 card can’t be played together to defend against a Hit-3 attack.
Finally, in the case of a successful attack, the lowest ranking member of the family at the location of the attack will take the bullet for any higher level character except Brigadors, who will never take a bullet nor will anybody ever take a bullet for them.
Remember, Drivers can do their thing during this phase.
BAIL AND FUNERALDuring this phase, bail can be posted for jailed characters and funerals arranged for the dead.
Bailing out a Capo costs $75k, $50k for Hitmen and Made Men, $25k for Associates, Brigadors, and Drivers, and $10k for Foot Soldiers. Funerals cost the same.
Bailed characters are put in the Streets.
HEAT LEVELI calculate if the Heat level should rise based on the number of characters in the Morgue and Prison. The higher the Heat Level, the more it takes to raise the level again. The Heat Level never goes down.
When the Heat Level hits 3, it is time to start fleeing the city at the Spaceport.
When the Heat Level hits 4, the game ends. Winner is determined by the total amount of cash accumulated plus $25k for each point of Respect commanded by surviving mobsters.
Hatol is a mid-tier city, an Indianapolis not a Chicago. Hatol is divided into several locations, and players will need to move their mobsters between various locations in the city to collect income and work with other crime families.
Blackhands will be a fairly fast-paced game, with each round lasting roughly a week and each phase only 24 hours.
JOINING
To join, fill out this form.
Family/Gang Name:
Capo: Name, Location
Hitman: Name, Location
Made Man: Name, Location
Associate: Name, Location
Driver: Name, Location
Each gang will start with a number of favor cards and $25k.
Locations
The Mansion: The Mansion does not generate income. The crime boss with the most Respect in the Don’s Mansion during an election is elected Don.The Streets: The Streets is a general area. Each mobster will generate $25k for the family.
The Prison: Arrested mobsters are placed in Prison. The Prison is the last stop before Triton, an off-planet prison colony, or the morgue, for mobsters who meet their untimely demise in their cell.
The Morgue: Where the dead go.
The Spaceport: The Spaceport is where Brigadors will arrive, and where mobsters can escape.
The Diner: The Diner is a racket that generates some income. The controlling family can forfeit the location’s racket value to bribe cops and receive information about which locations the Special Division are going to target.
The Freezer: This is a racket and, err, physical chop shop. It generates income for the controlling family.
Little Earth: Little Earth is a poor neighborhood and target of protection rackets. Generates income for the controlling family.
Lucina’s: Lucina’s is a brothel that generates income for the controlling family.
Warehouse District: The Warehouse District generates the most racket income.
HEAT
Heat represents how eager the Special Division is to crackdown on crime. When the total number of characters in Prison or in the Morgue equal the number of characters divided by five, Heat increased by one level and all prisoners are sent to Triton.
The game begins at Level 0. At Level 1, one SD card is drawn a turn. At Level 2, two SD cards are drawn a turn. At Level 3, three SD cards a drawn a turn, and so on.
THE FAMILY
There are seven types of characters.
Capo: The highest ranking member of a Family and commands 3 Respect. Capos can perform Attacks, Hits, and Whacks.
Hit Man: Skilled in the art of assassination and commands 2 Respect. Can perform Attacks or Hits.
Made Man: The enforcer of the family and commands 2 Respect. Can perform Attacks or Whacks.
Associate: Not yet a full member of the Family, the Associate must make a kill to become a Hit Man or Made Man. Can only use Attack cards. Command 1 Respect.
Driver: Can only use Attack Cards. As an action, this character can move itself and another character in the same location to the Streets, or from the Streets to another location. 1 Respect
Brigadors: Brigadors are mercenaries that can be hired from Earth. They cost $25k to hire can perform Attacks, Hits, and Whacks. Brigadors command 1 Respect and is hired during the Movement Phase. This counts as a Movement.
Foot Soldiers: Foot Soldiers cost $50k to hire. They can only perform Attacks. Command no respect. Foot Soldiers are hired during the Business Phase. After one kill, they can become Associates or Drivers.
FAVORS
Favors are cards that allow characters to perform actions during the action round. The Driver will always be able to perform his/her special ability during the action round.Favor Cards come in several types: Attacks, Hits, Whacks, Defense, Specials, and Weapons. Attacks, Hits, and Whacks have levels, representing the power of the card. Even a Level 1 Attack can kill though!
Defense cards are used to defend against attacks, and are attached to specific characters. Specialty, or special for short, cards are cards with unique abilities and restraints.
GAME ROUNDS
1. Election
2. Business
3. Movement
4. Special Division
5. Action
6. Bail and Funeral
7. Heat
ELECTION
Families with mobsters in the Mansion vote for the Don. The Capo who receives 50%+1 of the votes becomes the Don until the next Election Phase. The number of votes mobsters have = Respect. However, Brigadors and Foot Soldiers cannot vote. In the event that no Capo receives 50%+1 of votes, the previous Don remains.If this can’t happen, there is no Don for the round.
The Don will then receive two Favor Cards and must give one of these cards to any crime family whose mobsters share a location with at least one of the Don’s mobsters. If there is no shared location, only one Favor Card is drawn.
If, at any point during the game, the Don’s Mansion is closed down by the Special Division (surrounded by SD with no mobsters therein to defend it), the Election Phase is skipped over for the remainder of the game.
BUSINESS
A Show of Respect occurs in the five Racket Locations. Income is distributed to the family who has 50%+1 of Respect at a location. If a single family does not have this amount of Respect, the families at the location will have 24 hours to negotiate a division of the income. Otherwise, the Don will decide which present family receives the income.During the Business Phase, families may purchase favor cards. Purchasing a card costs $25k. A family can discard two cards to draw two cards as well.
During the Business Phase, the family that wins the Show of Respect at the Diner can forfeit the income as a bribe to the Cop. You will be shown the next two cards that will be drawn from the Special Division deck.
MOVEMENT
SPECIAL DIVISION
If this is the case, families with mobsters in the location will conduct a Respect vote to decide which family will take the fall this round. The lowest ranking mobster in the location (determined by Respect) will arrested.
Mobsters can use Weapon Cards during this phase to reduce SD tokens at locations.
When a mobster is arrested, they remain in Prison until bailed out, murdered, or sent to Triton when Heat rises.
If a location is surrounded while there are no mobsters to defend it, the location is closed for the rest of the game.
ACTION
In this phase, each family can play as many Favor Cards from their hand as they wish. Unless otherwise indicated, a family may only play Favor Cards against a rival mobster that share a location with the attacking mobster.Defense cards and certain special cards are played at locations with your own mobsters. If a mobster in this location is attacked, the defense card will activate if it would help. You can set limits on when a card will activate.
Any attack that is not successfully defended against will succeed, and the attacked mobster will be killed and moved to the Morgue. Only one Defense card activates at a time. A Defense-2 and Defense-1 card can’t be played together to defend against a Hit-3 attack.
Finally, in the case of a successful attack, the lowest ranking member of the family at the location of the attack will take the bullet for any higher level character except Brigadors, who will never take a bullet nor will anybody ever take a bullet for them.
Remember, Drivers can do their thing during this phase.
BAIL AND FUNERAL
Bailing out a Capo costs $75k, $50k for Hitmen and Made Men, $25k for Associates, Brigadors, and Drivers, and $10k for Foot Soldiers. Funerals cost the same.
Bailed characters are put in the Streets.
HEAT LEVEL
When the Heat Level hits 3, it is time to start fleeing the city at the Spaceport.
When the Heat Level hits 4, the game ends. Winner is determined by the total amount of cash accumulated plus $25k for each point of Respect commanded by surviving mobsters.
